


Sanctuary: Stargazing

by xtricks



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/M, Sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-17
Updated: 2018-05-17
Packaged: 2019-05-08 02:38:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,279
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14684703
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xtricks/pseuds/xtricks
Summary: Daisy and Robbie go for a late night drive.And again, whistlingwindtree made me a perfect header image!





	Sanctuary: Stargazing

 

Blood always stuck in the wheel wells.  Robbie crouched down and angled the hose until he was sure every speck of the night’s work was washed away from his car and every curve was perfect.  Footsteps made him drop the hose in a spray of water and straighten up warily.

It was Daisy, hopping to get out of the spray and giving him a sidelong smile that didn’t reach her eyes.  “That’s not how you get a girl wet.”

“No?” Robbie knew his own smirk wasn’t much better.  “What can I say? It’s been awhile.”

He was glad to see her.  He hardly knew Daisy but it was good to see her.  Even if, and his gaze sharpened, even if her shoulders were weary, even if her eyes were thick with shadows.  Even if he recognized grief there, grief and loss.

The silence swelled.  Robbie wasn’t used to talking and Daisy didn’t seem to want to.  He offered the best comfort he had.

“Wanna go for a ride?”

Daisy looked like she was expecting something else.  Conversation? Questions? But then nodded fiercely, stopping with a sudden wince that made Robbie’s mouth draw tight.  But he just opened the passenger door for her and went around to the driver’s side. The heavy thunk of the doors shutting and the rising growl of his baby’s engine was soothing.

“Going to tell me to wear a seatbelt?” She sounded like she trying to pick an argument.  

Robbie wasn’t going to give her one, just a sideways glance as he pulled into the street and headed for Los Feliz.  “No. I’ll just drive like a little granny.” He let up on the gas and let Lucy creep along the late night roads until Daisy groaned and pulled the belt on, hissing in pain between her teeth.  Robbie sped up again.

This time of night the traffic was light on Los Feliz but it wasn’t until they were heading up the hills towards the park that the streets really emptied out and Robbie sent his baby barrelling along twisting roads at ridiculously unsafe speeds.  

“Roll down your window,” he called and cranked his down so that the cool blast of Griffith Park’s air filled the car.  Trees whipped by in the darkness and Lucy’s tires skidded on a few tight turns. The blaze of the headlights flashed across boulders, twisted manzanitas, or the luminous, startled eyes of coyotes on the side of the road.  Daisy turned her head to the wind, eyes closed, and whatever was eating her was taken away for a little while. Robbie let the speed and the darkness and the soothing roar of his car take him too - a more peaceful letting go than when the Rider took control.  A fast car and a dark night couldn’t cure anything but it sure felt like it did.

When they were deep in the park, Robbie brought Lucy to an old overlook.  It wasn’t much used anymore, and the car rocked on the unpaved road. He cut the engine and there was just the ticking of cooling metal and the whisper of trees.  The night traffic sounded like the ocean up here, and they were far enough from the city that you could see the stars.

“Where are we?” Daisy’s face looked peaceful, eyes large and dark, and the edge of a bandage peeked out from under her hair.  She followed as he exited and leant on the warm hood of the car beside him.

“My folks used to take us up here,” Robbie said softly, listing slightly so their shoulders brushed.  Sure, it was for Daisy, a bit of comfort neither of them had to talk about but ... when had he touched anyone?  At least, someone he wasn’t going to kill. It seemed like a long time. Daisy seemed to be leaning a bit too, their light brush becoming something companionable.

“We couldn’t afford the observatory,” Robbie gestured downhill where a blaze of spotlights illuminated a carefully sculpted garden and a massive white building with three golden domes.  “So we’d come up here and Papa would teach us the constellations.”

The memory hurt, but in a good way, and Robbie tilted his head back to let the heat in his eyes cool down.  He didn’t talk about things like this, the little things still rattling inside him that were from before. Not even with Gabe, or maybe _especially_ with Gabe.  Daisy was familiar and a stranger all at once and it was easy to whisper secrets to her.

“Yeah?” Daisy’s voice sounded a little choked and a quick glance showed the silvery streak of a tear down her temple as she looked up at the night sky.  For a moment, Robbie tilted on the edge of retreat - cut off this conversation that had too many deep currents, take Daisy home, blow her off somehow, and put his life back in its proper place.  But Daisy looked over and met his eyes, mouth trembling a little, and he realized he couldn’t do that. More, he didn’t _want_ to do that.

“Yeah,” he said huskily, scooting back on the hood of his car until he could lay back against the windshield and see the sky.  “C’mon, slide back.”

“Look,” he pointed to a patch of stars just to their left as Daisy settled next to him.  “See? That’s the Pizza in the Sky. Look, there’s the missing slice -”

Daisy’s breath caught in a hiccuping snicker.  “Pizza in the _Sky?”_

Robbie chuckled.  “Of course. Then we got three rats chasing a cat ... this is LA after all.  Then there’s Runaway Rooster.”

“You’re _kidding.”_

“Nope,” Robbie shrugged, aware of the brush of their shoulders and the lighter look in Daisy’s eyes.  A breeze pulled Daisy’s hair towards him until it tickled his cheek. He could feel his own stiff expression softening, strange after so long holding still, of avoiding memories - good and bad - because he never knew when one was going to trip him up.  “I didn’t say my Dad _knew_ anything about the stars. And we were ... like seven and twelve.

“Pizza in the Sky must’ve been your favorite.”

“Nah,” Robbie tilted his head studying the sky and the random sprinkling of stars far above them.  The angle of the windshield and hood was perfect to relax on and the Charger never entirely cooled down, giving them a bit of warmth in the night.  Robbie traced his fingers along the gloss coat of the Charger and, right now at least, it didn’t remind him of the Rider, or of guilt. “Runaway Rooster was pretty rad.”

 _“Rad._ ” Daisy echoed, laughter simmering in her voice.  She scooted closer and pulled her knees up, bracing them on the hood of the car.  Everything seemed so normal and it was so _weird_.  “Wow, child of the 90s much?  Runaway Rooster?”

Robbie snorted and passed along a bit of Hillrock history; the Runaway Rooster and it’s years of freedom in the alleys of east LA.  “True story, I swear.”

The silence this time was just quiet.  

“You need to add Pizza Rat,” Daisy mumbled, head growing heavy on his shoulder.  He shifted, just enough so that Daisy’s hair was soft against his cheek. She smelled - well, pretty much like someone too stressed and too tired and not enough time for showers.  It was good anyway.

“Always wondered where that slice went,” Robbie said softly, the night felt like a miracle and he didn’t dare raise his voice in case that would break the spell.  “You're right. Pizza Rat.”

Daisy was asleep.  Robbie watched the stars and wondered if, maybe, they finally deserved a little peace.

 

END (5/16/18)


End file.
